Gene Test Confirms Laura Sides Will Inherit Early Onset Alzheimer's
A 43-year-old woman in Melbourne says knowing she has a specific genetic mutation for the London variant of dementia has reshaped her daily routine and plans for her future.
By Anthony Shevchenko ·
Laura Sides knows she will develop early onset Alzheimer's disease. A genetic test confirmed she inherited the specific gene responsible for the condition that struck her father in his 40s.
The test, which she took in 2013, offered a 99.999 percent certainty regarding her genetic status. Doctors told her at the time that symptoms would likely begin between the ages of 46 and 48. She is now 43, placing her three years away from the predicted onset of decline.
Sides first learned about the possibility of inheriting the disease during a hospital visit for her father. A doctor informed her that she had a 50 percent chance of developing the same early onset Alzheimer's, known as the London variant. She described the news as feeling like a toss of a coin and initially suppressed the information while caring for her father.
Her father died in 2009, one year after her mother passed away. Following their deaths, Sides left the United Kingdom for a solo trip around the world and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia. It was there that concerns about her own health resurfaced, leading her to see a specialist in 2013.
Before receiving the test results, Sides underwent six months of genetic counseling. After a six week wait, she met with medical staff who delivered the verdict. She asked them to cut straight to the point, and they told her the news was not good. She inherited the gene.
Sides recalls feeling a white blurry noise while sitting in the appointment room. She went to lunch with a friend immediately after, describing the meal as lovely. The emotional weight of the diagnosis arrived later, bringing feelings of anger and confusion about how to live with the knowledge.
The diagnosis influenced her decision to return to the UK, driven partly by the fact that her sister was pregnant. Sides felt it did not make sense to live on the other side of the world when her sister was about to have a baby. Despite moving back, she continued to participate in medical trials related to the disease.
She describes her involvement in these trials as a positive response to a negative situation. Currently, Sides focuses on activities that bring her immediate joy, such as being in nature and spending time in water. She says she is grateful for the people in her life, though she admits that meeting new people presents a challenge regarding when and how to share her diagnosis.
Sides notes that she often expects relationships to end after she discloses her condition, but she has been proven wrong. She has found that she can be loved despite the diagnosis. She had previously assumed she would become a mother but decided it would not be fair to a child given her prognosis.
Her daily life now centers on small pleasures rather than large aspirations. She hopes to spend her remaining healthy years drinking champagne and eating oysters, two of her favorite things, while surrounding herself with the people who make her feel safe.
